Fiberglass reinforced plastic is a well-known construction material used to make anything from automobile bodies to siding for building construction. The plastic is typically applied over a fiberglass mesh or mixed with fiberglass fibers and sprayed over a mold. When the plastic is cured, it hardens around the fiberglass infrastructure into a substantially self-supporting rigid unit. However, the fiberglass reinforced plastic is not rigid enough or strong enough to support other heavy objects and, when molded in thin planar sheets, requires structural reinforcement to stand in a vertical plane.
When used in building construction, fiberglass reinforced plastic is typically molded in planar sheets or in corrugated form for extra rigidity. In either case, the sheets are typically secured to an existing building frame with bolts or flathead nails. This construction process is somewhat tedious since the entire outer frame must be built before the plastic panels are secured thereon. Substantial fitting and refitting of the panels to accommodate the inaccuracies of the frame structure requires the continued manipulation of the panels which are typically unwieldy because of their flexibility.
When bolts or nails are used to secure the sheets of plastic to the frame, the heads of the bolts and nails remain visible on the outer surface of the plastic thereby destroying the cosmetic continuity of the sheets. Nails, when driven through the plastic, tend to crack the plastic and bolts require the drilling of several holes therein. Fiberglass reinforced plastic is impermeable to the flow of air and is consequently used in some circumstances to create an airtight environment. If such is the case, the use of nails or bolts for connecting the sheets to a building's frame reduces the efficiency of the plastic as a protective insulator against the transfer of microscopic particles therethrough.